On Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 1:45 PM , VW Doka wrote:

> The best rebuttal I've heard so far is:
>
> "How many mid-80's Japanese vehicles do you see on the road?"
>
> In my experience... very, very few.
>
> I'll stick with the T3.  It's unique, extremely useful, and in my
> experience, very reliable (never been towed home yet in 17 years of T3
> ownership).
>
> Cheers,
>
> Jeff

Well, I said I'd say no more.  But, yes, I do see a good many mid-80s
Japanese cars on the road, and tons of early 90s ones.  But, if Toyota
had for some bizarre reason discontinued the Corolla and anything like
it in 1994, there would have been alternatives very much like it
available -- people drive newer cars because they can get them.  We
drive old vanagons because there isn't anything like them to get.
Haven't done a count, but I'd wager that the proportion of mid-80s
Japanese cars on the road (of those originally sold) is considerably
higher than the proportion of mid-80s European cars on the road (of
those originally sold).  Vanagons may in fact be present in larger
proportion of those originally sold than most European vehicles.
Japanese ones ?????  But, what was available to replace it?  For a time,
the Eurovan, a vehicle that lacks many capabilities (road clearance for
one), and was never supported in this country.

The vanagon is a cult vehicle, and we in the cult keep driving them
(some of us at least) because to us they are "cool," or "neat," not
because they are easy to keep going.  If we have mechanical expertise
and time for ongoing repairs, and don't mind getting stuck (as many on
this list frequently have) and dealing with the hassles, or if we even
find those perversities attractive, then great.  So much the better for
some.

Enjoy your vanagons.  I hope to enjoy mine, if I can ever get past the
accumulation of repairs that seem to keep cropping up.

This has been therapeutic.  I hope it doesn't go on forever.

Dave Mc